The Origin of the Amazing Nightcrawler
by lady nightcrawler-x
Summary: This is the story of how Kurt Wagner started out! A must read for any fan of the greatest x-man of all time! Reviews are appreciated! *Chapter 3 up!!*
1. In the Beginning

The story of the amazing Nightcrawler is not one to be taken lightly. It is not for the faint of heart, and it is by far not a happy story. You have been given your precautions. Read at your own risk.  
The German newborn called Kurt was born of his mother, Raven Darkholme. They would have been like every other normal German family in their small town, except for one thing. Raven was a mutant. And she gave her x-factor gene to baby Kurt, too. When he was born, he was feared and hated. The people of the village called him a demon and called Raven a witch. After all, Kurt was born with blue fur all over his tiny body, elf- like ears, yellow eyes, fangs, three-fingered hands, two-toed feet, and a long, pointed tail protruding from his backside. Raven and her son fled the village, an angry mob right on their heels. Raven was trapped as she came to a cliff with a great waterfall. In fear for her own life rather than Kurt's, she promised the people that she would get rid of the child by throwing him into the depths of the falls. The townspeople accepted her deal, and took Raven back in whole-heartedly when she disposed of her own offspring.  
How the infant survived the fall was never to be known, even to this very day. But, under miraculous instances, Kurt was found by a family from Belgium. This family held no injustices, and immediately took the small demon in as one of their own. Thus, changing his last name to Wagner. The Wagner family was part of a traveling circus that had it's main headquarters in the Bavarian Alps. Since this family was in the Big-Top, Kurt's appearance was looked over. (there were freak shows in this circus) He grew up a peaceful existence in the rolling green hills and snow-capped mountains of the beautiful Alps. As soon as Kurt was old enough to perform in the family business, he immediately took up acrobatics. Somehow, because of his mutant gene, he was far more agile than any normal human being, circus performer or not. By the time Kurt reached adolescence, he was considered by all observers as the star of the traveling circus. He was adored by many inside of the large tent, but outside was very much a different matter. In the outside world, Kurt was maimed and called a freak by some, and feared by others. He would never get over this, and much of his childhood memories were scarred by insults of the commonpeople.  
Not much later after Kurt's rise to circus stardom, a Texas millionaire caught sight of the Amazing Nightcrawler (that was Kurt's performing name) and instantly recognized real talent. He bought out the small Bavarian traveling circus, and featured Nightcrawler in both the acrobatics stunts and the freak shows. Kurt, who couldn't take anymore of this treatment, escaped the selfish millionaire's clutches and ran off in search for a better life. He was only fourteen years old. Kurt spent a few years on the run, and wore a hood over his head in order not to be recognized. One night, as he was sleeping in "his" alleyway, he imagined a place that was wonderful. A place where everyone loved him; he had no worries, no doubts. A place he could call home. In fact, he imagined his family's own small cottage and smiled. Suddenly, in a puff of smoke and small yellow flashes, Kurt found himself in a deep darkness, the darkness of an alternate dimension. One he did not want to stay in for much longer. And then, just as suddenly, he found himself high over the Alps, freefalling towards the sharp mountain peaks. He let out a scream and clenched his eyes shut. He wanted to be on the ground. In that same puff of smoke, he found himself a few feet above the long, green grass of the Bavarian foothills where he used to play as a child. He landed with a soft thud, amazed that he had lived, amazed that he had traveled here in some sort of weird phenomenon, amazed that he had actually made it back home. He breathed in the fresh mountain air, which he had missed intensely compared to the polluted air waves in the numerous cities he had traveled to. Then he lay down and fell asleep.  
When Kurt awoke, he was confused. He forgot where he was for a moment and remembered what had happened just last night. For a while, he thought it was just some sort of a chance. Then, he looked back to that conversation he had with his parents... "You're a mutant, Kurt. We found you at the foot of a waterfall. You have been given some amazing powers, we are sure, but you do not yet possess the control to assess these powers just yet. When the time is right, you will learn what great gifts have been given to you." Kurt digested these words for a while, and then came to the assumption that he was a teleporter. He figured that he would port through the dark dimension every time he thought of a place he wanted to go. He imagined the alley where he used to sleep. In a small BAMF! he was transported back to his drippy, run down bed where he lay for a while, thinking. "If I have this great power to teleport, I wonder where I can teleport to." Kurt thought. 


	2. On his Own

Kurt looked up into the pitch night; the only light was the full moon above. The buildings on either side of him were extremely tall, but he could see where the roof was. He wanted to port up to the roof. He concentrated on the place, and in an instant he was standing on top of the old abandoned radio station. He took the sights in, and decided he wanted to go inside the building. One problem, though, he had never been inside and wasn't familiar with the surroundings. He tried to think of what it would be like inside the studio, but drew a blank. Instead, he cleared his mind of everything, curious to know where he would go with no sort of particular place in mind. Apparently, he was blank-minded, but one thing did slip into his thoughts. Unfortunately, the thing was a wall. He teleported right into the wall of the building! Fortunately, though, it was dry wall, and very easy to break. If it had been any other type of wall, Kurt surely would have died there. He was surprised and scared, but he punched through the papery wall with ease and stumbled out into the dark and mustiness of the studio. The place was covered with a thick layer of dust; no one had been inside for years, it seemed. He wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. He fell from the sky onto his bed, and thought again of the basic rules of his mutant power. "So, I can teleport to any place I've been before, and if I get stuck in another wall, I'm doomed." Kurt looked down and his longish blue hair fell in front of his face. "I have got to get away from here. I must find some place where I can be safe from the public." Kurt yawned and then placed his head onto the rock he used as a pillow.  
The next morning, he awoke at dawn, when the sun was still light yellow and there seemed to be a mild shimmery fog. He decided that today would be the day that he kept moving on, kept searching for that place where he would be treated normal. Packing whatever things he had left, he threw his bag over his shoulder, lowered his cloak hood, and stepped out into the bright sunlight of the city. Not even a step he took before he felt a strange buzzing inside his brain. It was a peculiar feeling, not so much painful as it was startling. All of a sudden, the buzzing and humming stopped. He shook his head and kept walking, all the while having the strange suspicion that someone somewhere was watching him at that very moment. Kurt was a little spooked at this emotion and he decided on his main objective. He would go to New York; he heard around that there were many different types of people there and he thought he might fit in. He had never been to New York before, so he closed his mind and focused on the next best thing. He figured that if he was close enough, someone might be able to send him in the right direction. He closed his eyes, focused, and BAMF! he landed in a wide winter wonderland of white.  
Looking around, he quickly recognized the Canadian wilderness he was standing in. "Now, I know there is a village nearby. I have performed there before," Kurt thought aloud. He wished then that he had been more prepared for such a climate. Shaking all the way, he finally made it to the small town of Saskatchewan. Making sure no one saw his face directly, he asked for directions to New York from anybody he found. All of his efforts proved to be fruitless until that buzzing entered his head again. He collapsed into the snow in a heap, the buzzing so intense now that it stung. -Meanwhile, at Xavier's Institute for the Gifted- "I'm sensing him, Scott. It's just hard to pinpoint his exact location when he keeps moving like that." "Well, it seems that you have him now, Professor." Two voices were coming from a room locked by a large metal door with an 'X' on it. The first speaker, Professor Charles Xavier, was a bald-headed man in a wheelchair who seemed to be concentrating on something or someone intently. The other figure, Scott Summers, was a student at Professor Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters. Both men were mutants. "Yes, Scott, I have found out where young Kurt Wagner is currently. We must send out the X-Jet to go and retrieve him before he teleports again," ordered the Professor. "Yes, sir, I'll get it loaded immediately. You'll be coming along?" replied Scott. "In a moment. I just want to speak with Kurt first," the Professor said. Scott left the large spherical room and the metal door rolled shut behind him. "Hold on, Kurt," Professor Xavier projected into Kurt's mind, "we're coming to save you." 


	3. Welcome to the Team

Chapter 3:  
Back in Saskatchewan, Kurt was writhing in agony in the cold snow as the sleek black X-Jet landed in a large patch of snow in the Canadian forest. He was slowly being smothered in another layer of snowfall, when Scott lifted him up by the arms. "We've got you now, Kurt. There's nothing to worry about," Scott stated softly. He buckled Kurt in (Kurt was unconscious) and a woman with dark skin and hair as white as their surroundings lifted the jet into the pale blue sky.  
When they landed at the Institute, Kurt had came to.  
  
"Wh...where...where am I?" stammered a very confuzed fuzzy elf. "You're in a safe place now, Kurt," the Professor said in Kurt's mind. "What? How did you do that? Why are you in my head!?" Kurt nearly yelled. "Here, Kurt, you have much to learn," Professor Xavier said calmly, this time, in his speaking voice. Over the next three hours, Kurt learned so much about the X-Men, the school, and himself. He met many new people, and they were all like him. They were all mutants. "At last," Kurt sighed, "I'm somewhere I know I can belong." Among the mutants he met were Scott Summers, of course, and the young woman who flew the jet. Her name was Ororo Munroe, and she was considered a goddess in Africa. She was pleased to meet Kurt, and she told him about her powers. "I was born able to manipulate the weather. As an X-Man, or rather woman, the Professor has given me a codename. I am known to the students as Storm," said Ororo. Kurt was astonished. "So, you are all given codenames? Can I have one? Back in the Bavarian Circus I was known as the Amazing Nightcrawler." "Then the Amazing Nightcrawler you shall be," stated the Professor, who was secretly listening in on their conversation. He wheeled around the corner, several more people trailing him. "I want to introduce you to the rest of my X-Men that you will be working with here. You are a wonderful addition to the team, and that is why I have been searching for you," claimed Professor Xavier. Kurt then met all of the people that were following the Professor, the first being another, more formal meeting with young Scott Summers. "Welcome to the team!" laughed Scott, "My codename is Cyclops. I'm called that because I can shoot optic blasts from my eyes." "Sounds like a cool power!" yelled Kurt. "Took me a while to gain control, but before then I was blasting holes in buildings," Scott sighed with a smile. A young girl that looked about his age poked her head out from behind Scott. "Hi," she said with a wave and a southern drawl, "Ahm Marie, but ya'll can call me Rogue." Rogue had long brown hair and a grey streak coming out of the front strands. "Uhh, where did you get that from?" Kurt asked as politely as he could. "I had a bad experience a couple of months ago, but ahm fine now," Rogue explained, "I can absorb the powers an' abilities of anyone ah touch, but it hurts the both of us." Kurt noticed she was wearing gloves. She realized he was staring and she rubbed her hands together as another girl walked into the room. She had red hair, though, and she was very pretty. "My name is Jean Grey, and I'm a telepath," she said bluntly, "Nice to have you Kurt, I can see you have been traveling great distances to get here." "Yes, I've...been on the move...for a while," Kurt stammered while suddenly finding the floor very interesting. "Don't be nervous," said a kind voice in his head. He had felt someone in his head before, but this time the voice belonged to a female. He looked up at Jean, and she winked. He instantly felt comfortable. Then, he started to shiver. The room was getting very cold. "Kurt, let me introduce you to Bobby. Bobby Drake. He's your age and I think you would get along very well," stated the Professor. Kurt found the source of the icy air around him. A fifteen year old boy with blond hair and light blue eyes was standing behind him, wearing a cabby hat and making icicles with his fingertips. "Iceman. You can call me Iceman. Yeah, I know its original. Nice to meet you," Bobby said coolly. Well, of course he would say it coolly, because every time he spoke, his breath would show and cling in the air. Kurt gripped his hand for a shake but pulled away because of the sub-zero temperature of his skin. "N-n-nice me-meeting you, t-t-t-too," Kurt said with chills. "Sorry about that, " said Bobby, and he iced off. The room became warmer already. "Is there anyone else you would like me to meet, Professor, before I go up to my room to, uh, unpack?" Kurt questioned. "Yes, if you want to, you can be introduced to one more I think," said the Professor, a little tone of unclarity in his usually powerful voice, "Er, Scott, can you get Logan?" "You sure Professor X?" asked Scott. "Positive. I don't want Kurt meeting up with him in the hallways, you know what he'll do," stated Professor, still sounding unsure. "Yes, sir," replied Scott. And he ran off. Kurt just stood there, terrified, wondering how hideous or mean this next mutant was. So far, the X-Men were nothing but nice people with special gifts, but he had a twinge in his stomach to tell him that this next one was against those standards. Soon enough, Cyclops strolled in with a tall, muscular man (not to mention hairy) who looked normal enough. At least more normal than he looked. As soon as the burly man spotted him, he leapt and shouted. "Calm yourself, Logan, this is Kurt Wagner a.k.a. Nightcrawler, and the newest addition to my X-Men. Kurt, this is Logan, er, he has no last name, but everyone knows him as Wolverine," said Professor Xavier. Logan walked up to Kurt and examined him for a while before sticking out his hand and saying, "Put 'er there, Bub. You look like a fuzzy blue elf." Kurt tried not to laugh at this, seeing that Logan's gaze was hard as rock and just as penetrating. It was as if this man was looking into his soul through his eyes. Kurt got nervous again, and Wolverine sniffed the air. "Somebody's nervous," he said, clearly noting that it was Kurt and not just somebody. He eased the tension by adding, "Yep, yep. He's a keeper. I can tell. Real talent, this one. Good. I'm going to sleep. Night." He strode out of the room with a leader's aura about him. There was something in this man that Kurt admired immensely. He wondered what kind of powers he possessed, because none of them were obvious from his actions... but, then, there was the sniffing... Kurt's thoughts were cut off by the Professor's voice trailing throughout the room. "He was tested on. An experiment. A sick scientific experiment by Weapon X. Put the unbreakable metal Adamantium through his whole skeleton. He has an accelerated healing factor, and has the sixth sense of a wolf. The special features, though, are his claws. He can make them come out of his knuckles at will. One of the most powerful and sought-after mutants in the world, Kurt, and he's with us. You two will get along just fine." "I certainly hope so...," Kurt mumbled as he was lead by Jean up to his room. 


	4. Magnetic Fields

Chapter 4: Magnetic Fields  
  
When Kurt awoke, he stared up into the high ceiling of his new bedroom. The bamboo-like fan was twirling incessantly, and also making the elf slightly dizzy. He shook his blue head and grasped it with one three- fingered hand before hopping out of his comfy bed and landing on the unpleasantly cold tile floor. He yawned, baring sharp looking fangs, stretched, and threw on a shirt; he was only wearing red and white striped boxers (with a hole in the back). He stumbled down the grand staircase that lead to the kitchen, his favorite room so far in the mansion. He went over to the breakfast table and saw a couple new faces among known ones. Bobby waved, smiled and hopped out of his chair next to a pretty girl about his age with a high brown ponytail. Bobby led Kurt to the cabinet that contained about a million types of cereal. "Pick one!" said Bobby, jovially bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet with a large smile when he saw the look of pure joy on his new friend's face. Kurt was amazed. His eyes widened with every box he read. In the end, he picked the one called 'Lucky Charms'. "They sound fun!" he exclaimed. Bobby got out a large bowl and a spoon for Kurt while he was being directed to the fridge for milk. Kurt felt this strong urge to talk to the girl who was at the table, silent as a mouse. He was confused for a moment, pouring a little too much milk into his Lucky Charms, 'this girl can see me, yet she is not afraid,' Kurt thought to himself. He realized what he was doing quickly as the girl began to smile and giggle slightly. He pulled away just as the milk was about to leave the bowl. Bobby sat back down in his seat, while Kurt klutzily went to sit across from the girl and Bobby. He mustered up the courage to talk to her. "Hello, my name is Kurt. Kurt Wagner. I am new here," he said shakily. "I...I know," she said, blushing and keeping that cute smile of hers across her lips, "I'm Kitty. Well, Katherine, actually, but everyone calls me Kitty." "Katchzen, huh," Kurt replied, "Can...can I call you that? Do you mind? I am German and that's 'cat' in Germ..." "Of course!" she said giggling. She smiled softly, despite Kurt's blank expression. He started eating his cereal but for some strange reason his spoon kept missing his mouth. Maybe it was because his eyes were transfixed on Kitty. She tried not to notice that he was staring, and looked away every so often because, quite frankly, the milk dribbling off his chin was funny and she didn't want him to think she was rude. He noticed this, and he just smiled a wide toothy grin and took another spoonful of Lucky Charms. He missed again. But this was odd... he hadn't been watching Kitty this time. Confused, he tried again, and it was strike three. Something strange was definitely going on. He sheepishly glanced up at Bobby and Kitty. It seems they were having trouble eating, too. He sighed, thankful that he wasn't the only one acting like a baby here. But then he thought, 'Why can't they eat too? We can't all be nervous around each other...' Just at that moment, Kurt was swept away in his chair. The chair took him out of the kitchen, into the great hall, and finally out of the mansion. It was as if his chair had a mind of it's own. He was terrified, gripping the metal arms as hard as he could with just three fingers. He was zooming down the highway now, so scared and shocked that he could not even think of or consider teleporting his way out of this mess. He just shut his eyes tight and prayed for the best. He was too young to die, after all; the Lord had great plans for him. That's what his foster mother would always tell him, so how could he die now? "Please, Lord...," Kurt whispered through small tears, "Get me through this."  
'Whoever wants me so badly will not have their wish!' Kurt thought with a sudden rush of determination. He tried to lift himself up off the chair with his furry arms and was getting G-force from the strong gusts of wind. The harsh wind was piercing his eyes and they stung and watered because of it. Or maybe it was because he was just crying. Either way he had a defeated yet strong look across his face. Though all the odds of his escaping were against him, still he tried to get out of the wretched chair. He mustered up whatever strength he had left and finally pushed himself up and off the chair. He then planned to jump onto the next car that passed by. A large grey truck was his answer, and it came just in time, seen as his arms were wearing out quickly. He readied himself for his leap of faith as the truck was neck-and-neck with his chair. With a burst of power and speed, his muscular calves and arms sprung him to what seemed to be the roof of the 18-wheeler. 'Yes!,' Kurt thought out loud, 'I'm going to make it!' He was but inches away from the safe haven of the truck when he was struck headfirst into some sort of forcefield. It was surrounding the truck. When he connected with the barrier, he was instantly knocked unconscious. He was to fall to certain death on the pavement below, going 80 on a clear highway. But as soon as he was about to hit rock bottom, the metal arms of the chair extended, caught dead-weight Kurt, and brought him back to the 'safety' of the seat. But, as he was to find out soon, he probably would have been more safe if he had fallen. The 'safety' of the chair was taking him to a slow and painful death as opposed to falling on the concrete and having a chance, however small, of surviving. Even if he hadn't survived, it would have been a better way to leave the world than what was waiting for him next. -Meanwhile, back at the Institute-  
Bobby and Kitty were running around the mansion, searching every corridor they knew of for Kurt, but they had no luck. "Where could he have gone?" said Kitty, clearly worried about the demon she knew near nothing about. "Look," said Bobby with a gulp. The front doors of the Institute had been smashed through in the clear shape of a chair and it's sitter. "He was kidnapped!" Kitty cried, "That chair took him away! I didn't even have a chance to talk to him! I...I...I...,"  
  
"We'll go get the Professor to look for him with Cerebro, it will be alright," Bobby said comfortingly. Kitty was in hystronics by the time they found Professor X in the humongous house. He took in as much of the unbelievable story as he could, and took to Cerebro immediately. Bobby went back to Kitty's room with her to keep her company. For some reason, she was extremely distraught about Kurt. Bobby thought, 'She should be upset that one of our team was kidnapped by a chair, but she knew the guy for all of 20 minutes and she's crying over him..." This wasn't like Kitty at all, but maybe she had connected with Kurt at first sight. Bobby spent the rest of the night comforting his friend, and Kurt spent his night on the freezing metal floor of a jail cell smack dab in the middle of Magneto's territory.  
The Professor finally managed to locate Kurt in the wee hours of the morning. 'Kurt! Kurt, wake up!' The buzzing from the Professor woke Kurt instantly. He grabbed his head; his back hurt from laying on the hard metal. 'What is it Professor?' Kurt asked quite unaware of the dire situation he was in, 'Wh...where am I? What am I doing in here!?!?' Kurt learned how to speak to Professor X in his mind just the first day he was in the mansion. He realized that he was in a plain cell, and that everything in it was made of iron. 'Get me out of here!!" Kurt said, more than a tinge of panic in his voice. 'I'm sending out a rescue team to come and get you soon, Kurt, hang tight and you'll be fine...,' Professor X said, then closed the line of brainwaves through Cerebro to Kurt. He looked extremely nervous and defeated, not how the Professor usually was. There was doubt spreading across his face, and his heart filled with gloom. '...I hope.' 


End file.
